Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(70)

Killing her didn't take long. Her breathing, then her heart slowed, and she slumped into the stone. But I didn't stop there, and behind me Talan sucked in a sharp breath. "Lark, what are you doing?"

"I'm giving her back to her element," I said. I pulled apart the molecules of her body as I'd pulled apart the gargoyles, a piece at a time until her body shimmered, breaking down into nothing but the water droplets of an ocean, the salty water of tears. Her body slipped from my hands, leaving nothing but a puddle of water and a pile of clothes.

Behind us the door broke open and the Enders spilled in.

Dolph was in the lead, an Ender and friend of mine. He cried out first. "She's killed the queen." A wave of water swept up with a movement of his hands.

I held up my palm and stopped it as if it were nothing, as if I'd been using my connection to their element my entire life. "Dolph, be still."

I placed my other hand in the water that had been Finley only moments before. "Goodbye, my friend," I whispered. "I am so sorry I couldn't save you."

"What has done this?" Dolph choked on the words. "If not you, then who?"

Talan cleared his throat. "The mother goddess is not who we thought she was. She is a false leader. She is to blame for this."

Dolph dropped to his knees beside me, his head bowed. "She was our best queen … "

I put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. I tried to save her, Dolph. I did all I could." Despite my grief, there was no guilt in my heart. I knew who to blame for this, and it was not me. Viv would pay for her crimes; I would make sure of it.

Dolph blinked and looked up at me, his eyes full of tears. "You carry our element. How is that possible?"

I drew a breath as I pushed to my feet. "I will carry it for a time while I face the false mother goddess."

He was on his feet only a second after me. "Then I will stand with you." The other Enders nodded, repeating his words. "We stand with you, Larkspur." 

Talan moved up beside me. "This is not how it is meant to be."

Without a thought, I pushed him away, not with my hand but with Water, Fire, and Earth. I wove them into a single blast that sent him flying, slamming him into the wall. "It is not what I wanted, Talan, yet it is how my life is turning out. Your siblings have put their faith in me. They have given me their power to do what I can to stop the false mother goddess. We do this my way, now, from here on out."

The Enders behind me stiffened, their weapons sliding out one by one.

I let Talan go, the three elements in me vying for my attention.

"My siblings." Talan put a hand to his chest and rubbed at the spot where I'd pinned him. "That cannot be."

"Realm," I said and held my hand out, calling water to my palm, spreading it outward and upward until it was a shimmering wall between Talan and me. "He kissed me and gave me a connection to his power, and with it, his life."

"And Ollie?" The look in Talan's eyes said it all. He couldn't believe even what was in front of him.

I lifted my other hand and held it out, a burst of flame circling out and around the water in a twisting tornado that heated the room instantly. "She gave her life also, and with it, her blessing. They are afraid, Talan. They are afraid because of what Viv did to them."

He went to his knees. Behind me, Dolph reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. "Lark, we have a problem here, and we need a leader to deal with it."

"I am not your leader." I brushed his hand off, and he put it back on.

"You are, whether you like it or not. Finley would have wanted you to take her spot in this time of unrest."

I wasn't so sure about that.

Below our feet, the Deep rumbled. I went to my knees and shot a look to Talan, frowning. "An earthquake?" No, that didn't feel right.

He shook his head, his eyes so sad, I almost believed the sorrow in them.

"Humans."





CHAPTER 22



The ground below us in the Deep shook again, shuddering like a beast stuck with arrows. I drew myself up. I lifted my wrist and Ash flew down from the rafters, landed lightly, and then moved to my shoulder.

"All of this, all of it is a distraction to keep us from going after Viv," I said.

Talan grunted. "You think?"

"Don't sass her!" Peta snarled. "You should be helping her, asshole, not making it harder for her to do her job. Whether you like it or not, she, you, and two of your siblings are going to stand shoulder to shoulder against Viv, now."

Goddess love Peta. I could always depend on her, if no one else.

Dolph made a movement with one hand, two fingers pointed downward and a quick swirl. In a flash, the Enders were around me, a protective ring. "She is our queen now, protect her with your lives," Dolph said.